Alderman Charles Q. Troupe, who’ll be hanging with his cousin Quincy when he reads this, sent a stinging rebuke to Captain James Moran of SLPD last week regarding a recent 7th District Community Relations meeting.
“I was surprised and dismayed that you stood before a room of black citizens and stated that you were not a part of the solution to the crime problem. You also became belligerent and condescending once we began criticizing you and the lack of service we are receiving by police officers under your command,” Troupe wrote.
“All of the attendees that I have spoken with felt that you were insensitive to their plight and that you offered them no hope to the crime that is ravishing the 7th police district. This meeting appeared to be no more than an iron fist in a vertical velvet glove. This is not a police/community relationship, but instead a police/community dictatorship. You made the statement that Downtown, Grand Center, the West End, Midtown and other areas that have enhanced policing have these services because they are willing to pay additional money for them. That was as blatant disregard for the pleas of a group of tax-paying citizens as I have ever heard.”